Former world No 4 suggests ‘marmite’ Nick Kyrgios will have ‘regrets’ about his career
Greg Rusedski believes that Nick Kyrgios is a ‘good for the game’ of tennis, but may yet have regrets over not giving his full effort throughout his career.
The Australian is due to return to professional tennis at the ATP 250 event in Brisbane, January 4 – 11, after being handed a wildcard.
Kyrgios is also tipped to be given direct entry to the main draw of the Australian Open, again, via a wildcard.
The Wimbledon 2022 champion hasn’t played a professional match since the Miami Open in March, where he was continuing to suffer from wrist pain.
Former world No 4 Rusedski sought to offer his analysis of Kyrgios’ current career situation, praising the Australian’s talent, but also stating some constructive criticism.
“The thing is that I think he is different,” began Rusedski on the Off Court with Greg podcast.
“He is kind of like John McEnroe, but John McEnroe was desperate to win, so he had that angry, rage and bad boy spirit, but he gave 110%.
“Nick has the talent, but it depends on the day how he feels. If he feels like it, he’s brilliant. If he doesn’t, he can’t. You can’t do that any more.
“It’s just not possible with the way [Jannik] Sinner and [Carlos] Alcaraz have stepped up tennis to a different level. I miss that outspokenness. That’s why Kyrgios is popular.
“He is very outspoken and gives you headlines.
“But the frustrating part for me is that I would have loved to have seen him fulfil his full potential out there by putting in the extra work, but maybe that is not for him.
“I could be completely and utterly wrong, but if you put 110% into something and fail, then you just have to take ownership and say maybe I was not good enough. That could possibly be it.”
Kyrgios has been plagued with health issues since having a career-best season in 2022, undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in January of the following year, before missing six months of tour action.
Once he returned to the tour, the former world No 13 suffered a wrist injury during a Wimbledon practice session, which forced him to, once again, go under the knife and end his season.
He would launch a more complete comeback in 2025, but was unable to play more than a handful of matches before shutting down a third consecutive season after the Masters 1000 event in Miami.
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“But I’m not inside his mind and don’t know what he thinks,” the Brit went on to add.
“Maybe he is really happy doing the media and doing exhibitions and doing those things.
“So enjoy your life, but if God gives you a talent that he has got, because it is a God-given talent, and one of the only other guys who I could say is like that is [Roger] Federer. The most beautiful tennis players you have ever seen.
“If you get that benefit of having that sort of talent, you want to think did I win a major? Did I manage to get to number one?
“Because when you get to 50 and you’re losing your hair and you’re getting a bit older, you think to yourself did I maximise my career.
“Could I have done more? You still always have those question marks. Maybe he doesn’t, maybe he never will.”
Kyrgios’ career highlights include reaching the showpiece match of Wimbledon in 2022 (losing to Novak Djokovic) and lifting seven ATP singles titles, in addition to having defeated all of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray.
